Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge, roll or column of smokable material such as shredded tobacco (e.g., in cut filler form) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby forming a so-called “smokable rod” or “tobacco rod.” Normally, a cigarette has a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element comprises cellulose acetate tow plasticized using triacetin, and the tow is circumscribed by a paper material known as “plug wrap.” A cigarette can incorporate a filter element having multiple segments, and one of those segments can comprise activated charcoal particles. Typically, the filter element is attached to one end of the tobacco rod using a circumscribing wrapping material known as “tipping paper.” It also has become desirable to perforate the tipping material and plug wrap, in order to provide dilution of drawn mainstream smoke with ambient air. Descriptions of cigarettes and the various components thereof are set forth Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) (1999). A cigarette is employed by a smoker by lighting one end thereof and burning the tobacco rod. The smoker then receives mainstream smoke into his/her mouth by drawing on the opposite end (e.g., the filter end) of the cigarette.
The sensory attributes of cigarette smoke can be enhanced by applying additives to tobacco and/or by otherwise incorporating flavoring materials into various components of a cigarette. See, Leffingwell et al., Tobacco Flavoring for Smoking Products, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (1972). For example, one type of tobacco flavoring additive is menthol. See, Borschke, Rec. Adv. Tob. Sci., 19, p. 47-70, 1993. Various proposed methods for modifying the sensory attributes of cigarettes have involved suggestion that filter elements may be used as vehicles for adding flavor to the mainstream smoke of those cigarettes. US Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2002/0166563 to Jupe et al. proposes the placement of adsorbent and flavor-releasing materials in a cigarette filter. US Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2002/0020420 to Xue et al. proposes the placement of fibers containing small particle size adsorbents/absorbents in the filter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,486 to Dube et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,905 to Green, Jr. et al. propose the placement of a flavor-containing pellet in a cigarette filter. Other representative types of cigarette filters incorporating flavoring agents are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,335 to Tiggelbeck et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,098 to Owens, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,671 to Byrne; U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,391 to Woods et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,829 to Thesing et al.
Cigarettes having adjustable filter elements that allow smokers to select the level of flavor that is available for transfer into mainstream smoke have been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,995 to Kallianos et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,375 to Patron et al. Some proposed cigarettes may be manipulated, reportedly for the purpose of providing components of their filter elements with the propensity to modify the nature or character of mainstream smoke. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,038 to Homburger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,557 to Karalus; U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,242 to Boukar; U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,558 to Seyburn; U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,859 to Carty; U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,665 to Kindgard; U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,128 to Cohen; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,141 to Grossman.
Some proposed cigarettes have hollow objects positioned in their filter elements, and the contents of those objects reportedly are released into the filter elements upon rupture of those objects in the attempt to alter the nature or character of the mainstream smoke passing through those filter elements. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,558 to Waterbury; U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,121 to Carty; U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,686 to Irby, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,049 to Leake; U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,130 to Harlow et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,1809 to Carty; U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,231 to Dock; U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,228 to Dock; U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,226 to Horsewell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,521 to Dock; U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,914 to Brooks et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,773 to Walker; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,144 to Tateno et al.; US Pat. Application Pub. Nos. 2004/0261807 to Dube et al; and 2005/0070409 to Deal; and PCT WO 03/009711 to Kim. Some proposed cigarettes have capsules positioned in their filter elements, and the contents of those capsules reportedly are released into the filter elements upon rupture of those capsules in order to deodorize the filter element after the cigarette is extinguished. See, for example, US Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2003/0098033 to MacAdam et al.
Commercially marketed “Rivage” brand cigarettes have included a filter possessing a cylindrical plastic container containing water or a liquid flavor solution. Cigarettes representative of the “Rivage” brand cigarettes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,056 to Tamaoki et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,981 to Tamaoki et al., both of which are assigned to Japan Tobacco, Inc. The cylindrical casing within the filter reportedly may be deformed upon the application of external force, and a thin wall portion of the casing is consequently broken so as to permit release of the liquid within the casing into an adjacent portion of that filter.
A cigarette holder has been available under the brand name “Aquafilter.” Cigarette holders representative of the “Aquafilter” brand product are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,644 to Shaw; U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,387 to Goldstein; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,153 to Kaye; assigned to Aquafilter Corporation. Those patents propose a disposable cigarette holder into which the mouth end of a cigarette is inserted. Smoke from the cigarette that is drawn through the holder reportedly passes through filter material impregnated with water. A disposable filter adapted to be attachable to the mouth end of a cigarette has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,997 to Smith et al. Flavor-containing capsules contained within the disposable filter reportedly may be squeezed in order to release the flavor within those capsules.
Some smokers might desire a cigarette that is capable of selectively providing a variety of different flavors, depending upon the smoker's immediate desire. The flavor of such a cigarette might be selected based on the smoker's desire for a particular flavor at that time, or a desire to change flavors during the smoking experience. For example, changing flavors during the smoking experience may enable a smoker to end the cigarette with a breath freshening flavor, such as menthol or spearmint. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a cigarette that is capable of providing distinctive, different pleasurable sensory experiences, at the discretion of a smoker.
Some smokers might also desire a cigarette that is capable of selectively releasing a deodorizing agent upon completion of a smoking experience. Such agents may be used to ensure that the remaining portion of a smoked cigarette yields a pleasant aroma after the smoker has finished smoking that cigarette. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a cigarette that is capable of releasing a deodorizing agent, particularly at the discretion of the smoker.
Some smokers might desire a cigarette that is capable of selectively moistening, cooling, or otherwise modifying the nature or character of the mainstream smoke generated by that cigarette. Because certain agents that can be used to interact with smoke are volatile and have the propensity to evaporate over time, the effects of those agents upon the behavior of those cigarettes may require introduction of those agents near commencement of the smoking experience. Accordingly, is desirable to provide a cigarette that is capable of selectively moistening, smoothing or cooling the smoke delivered to a smoker, at the discretion of that smoker.
It would be highly desirable to provide a smoker with the ability to enhance his/her smoking experience, such as can be accomplished by allowing the smoker to purposefully select certain characteristics or behaviors that the cigarette exhibits. That is, it would be desirable to provide a cigarette possessing components that can be employed so as to allow the smoker to alter, in a controlled way, the nature or character of the mainstream smoke produced by that cigarette. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a cigarette that is capable of selectively releasing an agent for enhancing the sensory attributes of the mainstream smoke (e.g., by flavoring that smoke). More particularly, it would be desirable to provide the means to manufacture such cigarettes incorporating such selectively-releasable flavor agents and the like in a rapid, highly-automated fashion. It also would be desirable to provide improved means to incorporate smoke-altering solid objects such as flavor pellets, exchange resin beads and adsorbent/absorbent particles into cigarette filters, in a rapid, highly automated fashion.